I can understand why it was so shocking though, I mean, compared to those other things. Japan isn't a third world country- basically it was a big... 'THIS COULD BE YOU!' - (except I live on a mountain.) I worried for my japanese friend, and shounen jump took some time off.... (and I worried when the nuclear plants were out of hand) but yeah, there were clearly people who thought, 'I like anime... I like Japan... THAT MAKES THEM MORE IMPORTANT THAN NEW ZEALAND(what, there was a disaster there too?)' which was irksome.

Oh no absolutely, I'm really sensetive towards watching live footage too.. Or people suffering in general ) : Especially the footage from the bombings in Oslo, Norway and the following killings on a nearby island.. And that feels more real somehow than the incident in Japan just because it's so much closer to where I live

Yeah, that would have been real close, eh? I noticed your animation to that. That was real nice. I'm glad you did it. :']

When I turned on the TV to find the live feed for Japan...... I came at just the right time. Or wrong time, I suppose. I got to watch it sweep up into a coastal town. And because I was watching it live, I wished with all my heart that I could have reached through the TV and plucked up the tiny cars from the road ways as they fled, were then engulfed, and I realized I was watching people die live. I remember crying at the TV, telling the cars they were going the wrong way, don't go that way. I could see everything, but I couldn't do anything. I felt so helpless. I can't imagine what the men in the helicopter were feeling then. I never hated the invention of live feeds so much in my life as in that moment.

in this particular case it got worse and deserved extreme reactions. though the initial panic was far too strong, compared to the other stuff going on in the world. people are so much more emotional if they feel they can relate (no matter if they actually can, or not).

I kinda liked the japanese reaction in the beginning. every non-japanese was panicking, offering help and such, and the japanese just shrugged and said "what? the catastrophe was worse than others before, but it's nothing we're not used to in general." they ARE very well trained when it comes to earthquakes and tsunamis. too bad it escalated so much afterwards.

i dont like people like that who get obsessed over a problem that a highly advanced country is having. they have their own, functional government and more advanced technology then we do, so i think they can take care of themselves. the problems in less advanced parts of the world are a bigger concern, and even bigger a concern are the problems in our own country. homeless people, starving people... but we dismiss them as hobos, and carry on with our lives. isn't the world wonderful?

The difference is that the first two are our own faults, by our own fighting and ignorance, the last one is a catastrophic event that we couldn't prevent, and while the other two are wide spread, is literally effecting a good third of the world. I get your point but there is a pretty big difference in the magnitude of the situations here. =/ Never the less, I feel and pray for all people who are in terrible situations like all three you present above.

Even if its our own fault it still leaves people suffering, just like the natural disasters.

It's not less sad that the children in Africa are starving to death because of our ignorance, I'd say its actually more sad when you think about it.When something horrible happens in the world that we can actually prevent, we wont do it. Why? Because we're selfish idiots.

So technically the starvation and killing in the wars can be stopped with as much effort that it takes to stop a tsunami.

The exposure isn't so large though. =/ Without an earthquake or a tsunami, life is going on how it always has, and in that regard it is still a "natural disaster", just not one that is active. Even still, there is no large solution for something like as starvation, but we're coming closer every day and I think relief is definitely needed.

As for the problem with genocide, I believe we need to act on that immediately. And you are correct with your point, they can be but we need to expose them for that to happen!

Personally, I would have added a report about a nearby homeless person dieing from the cold.Before thinking about what happens far away, we should make something for those who die from cold and hunger in our own countries.

Yea, but why do more people care about Japan? Because it is a natural disaster and no one is to blame.Libya, Yemen, etc involve political powers and human intervention. You won't feel for the people that are dying in Afghanistan, Iraq, Chechnya, etc right? There are sides involved in these countries, and which side you choose lies HEAVILY on your political views. Plus, Japan is more well known and stuff, tell me truthfully, have you even heard of places like Haiti before the something horrible happened to it? Hope you get my point.

Of course. But why are they not getting enough?Africa isnt a stable region, especially politically. People are less willing to do something to help a country stand up. Civil wars going on, region instability contributes to why we are not willing to do anything. It is an entire continent we are talking about. Why are so many people helping Japan? Cuz we are getting something out of Japan, technology, animations, etc. Think of it as investing. But if we were to support Africa, its similar to supporting the whole of Asia. Now who is willing to do that?